Murder Most Royal Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nero

Nero's mother, Agrippina, had helped him to assume the throne after the suspicious death of his step-father, Claudius. When Nero tired of her influence over him he first tried to kill her in a supposed accident, but when this did not work he had his soldiers kill her.

Although he was involved in other murders, at the least that of his half-brother, Claudius's true heir, and two of his wives it was the crime of matricide that the Romans found truly repugnant.

Answer: Cleopatra

Cleopatra ruled Egypt with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, then when he died she ruled jointly with her two younger brothers. She never intended to share power with them and Ptolemy XIII drowned during a battle with Caesar's troops in 47BC and Cleopatra poisoned Ptolemy XIV herself in 44 BC.

Answer: Richard III

From soon after Richard's death there were stories and rumours that one prince escaped. During Henry VII reign an impostor, Perkin Warbeck, said that he was Richard of Shrewsbury, the younger prince, and tried to claim the throne but was defeated by Henry and executed. Historians believe Perkin to have been a Fleming or a Frenchman.

Answer: Anne Boleyn

Although there was a kind of trial at which Anne was judged guilty of the crimes with which she was charged and sentenced to death, modern legal opinion says that Henry committed judicial murder. The fact that he wanted her to have a painless death, and he was not a man of sentiment, indicates that he knew that she was innocent.

Answer: Mary Queen of Scots

Lord Darnley, Mary's husband was an arrogant man who tried to usurp her power. He was jealous of her private secretary and, with his friends, murdered him in front of the pregnant Mary. After this, he fled to Glasgow. She and her lords had a conference about how to solve 'the Darnley problem'. Mary called him back and, after an explosion in the house where he was staying, he was found dead in the garden.

Answer: The Duke of Clarence

Here is a case where royalty is innocent. There are numerous records and diaries that prove that the Duke of Clarence was in Scotland at the time of the Whitechapel murders.

Answer: Nicolas II

After the revolution of 1917, the czar and his family were arrested and imprisoned. A civil war broke out as opponents of the Bolsheviks sought to retake the government. When the White Army approached Ekaterinburg it was decided to kill the captives, for they would be a powerful rallying point against the Red Army.

Answer: Saudi Arabia

One motive that has been suggested is that Faisal bin Musa'id did this to avenge his brother, Khaled, a religious fanatic, who was shot by Saudi Defence Forces during a demonstration against a television station in Riyadh. He blamed his uncle for his brother's death.

Answer: Henry VI

Shakespeare, in his plays "Henry VI" and "Richard III", accuses Richard III, who was Edward IV's brother, of the murder. He also accuses Richard of the murder of the 'Princes in the Tower.' As the playwright was living in Tudor times it was politic to blame Richard, the last king of the House of York, whose throne, after his death in battle, had been taken by a Tudor.

Answer: Kathmandu, Nepal

Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal fell in love with a beautiful girl, Devyani Rana. His family would not permit him to marry her as she had Indian blood and relations between the two countries were poor. On the 1st July, 2001, he took his revenge by killing his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aiswarya, and seven other close relatives in the Royal Palace. Then he shot himself.